Enterprise Network Identity Policy

Network and Internet access is key for almost every role within the enterprise; however, this requirement must be balanced with the risk that it brings. The key objective of every enterprise is to provide secure but controlled network access enabling the right person the right access at the right time, without compromising on security.

Fortinet Single Sign-On is the method of providing secure identity and role-based access to the Fortinet connected network. Through integration with existing Active Directory or LDAP authentication systems, it enables enterprise user identity based security without impeding the user or generating work for network administrators. FortiAuthenticator builds on the foundations of Fortinet Single Sign-on, adding a greater range of user identification methods and greater scalability. FortiAuthenticator is the gatekeeper of authorization into the Fortinet secured enterprise network identifying users, querying access permissions from third party systems and communicating this information to FortiGate devices for use in Identity-Based Policies.

Deliver enterprise port access control to validate users connection to the LAN and Wireless LAN to prevent unauthorized access to the network.

Highlights:

FortiAuthenticator Single Sign-On User Identification Methods

FortiAuthenticator can identify users through a varied range of methods
and integrate with third party LDAP or Active Directory systems to apply
group or role data to the user and communicate with FortiGate for use in
Identity based policies. FortiAuthenticator is completely flexible and can
utilize these methods in combination. For example, in a large enterprise,
AD polling or FortiAuthenticator SSO Mobility Agent may be chosen as the
primary method for transparent authentication with fallback to the portal
for non-domain systems or guest users.

Active Directory Polling

User authentication into active directory is detected by regularly polling domain controllers. When a user login is detected, the username, IP and group details are entered into the FortiAuthenticator User Identity Management Database and according to the local policy, can be shared with multiple FortiGate devices.

FortiAuthenticator SSO Mobility Agent

For complicated distributed domain architectures where polling of domain controllers is not feasible or desired, an alternative is the FortiAuthenticator SSO Client. Distributed as part of FortiClient or as a standalone installation for Windows PCs, the client communicates login, IP stack changes (Wired > Wireless, wireless network roaming) and logout events to the FortiAuthenticator, removing the need for polling methods.

FortiAuthenticator Portal and Widgets

For systems which do not support AD polling or where a client is not feasible, FortiAuthenticator provides an explicit authentication portal. This allows the users to manually authenticate to the FortiAuthenticator and subsequently into the network. To minimize the impact of repeated logins required for manual authentication, a set of widgets is provided for embedding into an organization’s intranet which automatically logs the users in through the use of browser cookies whenever they access the intranet homepage.

RADIUS Accounting Login

In a network which utilizes RADIUS authentication (e.g. wireless or VPN authentication), RADIUS Accounting can be used as a user identification method. This information is used to trigger user login and to provide IP and group information, removing the need for a second tier of authentication.

Additional Functionality

Strong User Identity with Two-factor Authentication

FortiAuthenticator extends two-factor authentication capability to multiple FortiGate appliances and to third party solutions that support RADIUS or LDAP authentication. User identity information from FortiAuthenticator combined with authentication information from FortiToken ensures that only authorized individuals are granted access to your organization’s sensitive information. This additional layer of security greatly reduces the possibility of data leaks while helping companies meet audit requirements associated with government and business privacy regulations. FortiAuthenticator supports the widest range of tokens possible to suit your user requirements. With the physical time based FortiToken-200, FortiToken Mobile (for iOS and Android), e-mail and SMS tokens, FortiAuthenticator has a token options for all users and scenarios. Two-factor authentication can be used to control access to applications such as FortiGate management, SSL and IPSEC VPN, Wireless Captive Portal login and third party, RADIUS compliant networking equipment.

To streamline local user management, FortiAuthenticator includes user self-registration and password recovery features.

Enterprise Certificate Based VPNs

Site-to-site VPNs often provide access direct to the heart of the enterprise network from many remote locations. Often these VPNs are secured simply by a preshared key, which, if compromised, could give access to the whole network. FortiOS support certificate-based VPNs; however, use of certificate secured VPNs has been limited, primarily due to the overhead and complexity introduced by certificate management. FortiAuthenticator removes this overhead involved by streamlining the bulk deployment of certificates for VPN use in a FortiGate environment by cooperating with FortiManager for the configuration and automating the secure certificate delivery via the SCEP protocol.

For client-based certificate VPNs, certificates can be created and stored on the FortiToken300 USB Certificate store. This secure, pin protected certificate store is compatible with FortiClient and can be used to enhance the security of client VPN connections in conjunction with FortiAuthenticator.